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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE:
PIETRO GAIATINO'S COMMENTARLA
IN AP O CAL YPSIM 1
137
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138 SHARON LEFTLEY
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 139
view of the Franciscan order was also interesting: it had fallen into
terrible corruption, worse even than the secular clergy, but it would
be purified and emerge as the single reformed religious order which
would dominate the final millennium. The angelic pope would also
be a Franciscan. Even such a superficial sketch of his ideas
demonstrates that there were strong possibilities of Joachimist
influence and that Galatino, as a Franciscan, viewed his own order as
having a central apocalyptic role.
Both Reeves and Rusconi have stressed the strength of
Galatino's connection with the medieval traditions, particularly
Joachimist ideas. Rusconi has gone further in exploring some of
Galatino's specific sources, concluding that they were, for the most
part, printed texts of medieval prophecies, supplemented by some
manuscripts.6 Nevertheless, Galatino has consistently been
categorised as a Joachimist or as a cabbalist but not examined in a
Franciscan context. Through the Commentarla in Apocalypsim we can
see him in a broader tradition which was influenced not only by
Joachimism but also by other prophetic traditions.
The Bible formed the backbone of many of Galatino's
prophetic works. He constantly cited passages from both the Old
and New Testament and clearly regarded them as the ultimate
authority. Apart from the commentary on the Apocalypse, this is
seen in the trilogy on Church history which is also predominantly
biblical.7 His attitude to the Bible was fundamentally traditional but
he was not unaffected by the new humanist approach. He paid
particular attention to the humanist desire to establish the true text
of the Bible in Hebrew and Greek and to provide an accurate and
stylish Latin translation. He stated his commitment to the Greek
text in the preface to the Commentaria in Apocalypsim , and his
commitment to the Hebrew in his tract on scriptural exegesis.8 He
pointed out differences between the Latin and original versions but
6His findings are given in R. Rusconi, 'Circolazione di testi profetici tra '400 e
'500: La figura di Pietro Galatino', in II Profetismo Gioachimita, 379-97; and "'Ex
quodam antiqussimo libello": la tradizione manoscritta delle profezie nell'Italia
tardomedievale dalle collezioni profetiche alle prime edizioni a stampa', in Verbeke
et al. (eds), The Use and Abuse of Escbatology in the Middle Ages (Leuven, 1988) 441-72.
7Vat. Lat. 5568-9; Vat. Lat. 5576; and Vat. Lat. 5575.
Vat. Lat. 5567, 2r; Vat. Lat. 5580, 6r-v.
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140 SHARON LEFTLEY
these rarely altered his argument.9 The collation of the texts rather
than philological criticism seems to have been his aim. His
traditional approach is also reflected in his respect for the opinions
of the Church Fathers, both Latin and Greek. Gregory, Augustine,
and Jerome are often cited and their opinions treated with great
respect, as are those of John Damascene and Basil.10 His exegetical
methods were, therefore, despite the humanist textual comments,
substantially medieval.
In particular, he believed that the literal meaning did little more
than obscure the true, spiritual meaning. His stress on the
allegorical and anagogie senses of his chosen passages of the Bible
reflected both his desire to extract as much prophetic information
as possible from such an authoritative source and his traditional, late
medieval approach to scholarship, notwithstanding his humanist
training. Like many of his contemporaries, he tried to combine
medieval exegetical methods with the textual criticism and
grammatical precision of humanism. In his case, however, the
philological element is far less important than the search for
spiritual knowledge. He used the Bible to provide prophetic
evidence for his view of Church history, and any textual criticism
took place within that context and was not allowed to impinge upon
it.11
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 141
I2Vat. Lat. 5581, lv; Vat. Lat. 6046, 2r; Vat. Lat. 5567, 12v-13r.
13Vat. Lat. 5567 and Vat. Lat. 6046.
14Vat. Lat. 6046, lv.
15Vat. Lat. 5567, lv: "nemo tamen eorum, quos hactenus in ilium scripsisse
contigit, verum ac proprium eius intellectum (meo quidem iudicio) attingere
potuit...In sexto tamen ecclesiae tempore, cuius initium iam tenemus, sunt eiusdem
libri arcana omnia clarissime revelanda."
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142 SHARON LEFTLEY
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 143
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144 SHARON LEFTLEY
21 Burr, 93-5.
On Olivi's Apocalypse commentary, see Reeves, "The originality and
influence of Joachim of Fiore," 194-201; W. Lewis, Peter John Olivi: Prophet of the
Year 2000 (Ph.D.: Tbingen 1972); R. Manselli, La " Lectura super Apocalypsim" di
Pietro di Giovanni Olivi: ricerche suWeschatologismo medioevale (Rome, 1955); P. Vian,
'Dalla gioia dello spirito alla prova della chiesa. Il "tertius generalis status mundi"
nella Lectura super Apocalypsim di Pietro di Giovanni Olivi' in A. Crocco (ed.),
L 'Et dello spirito e la fine dei tempi in Gioacchino da Fiore e nel Gioachimismo medievale .
Atti del II Congresso internazionale di Studi Gioachimiti (San Giovanni in Fiore,
1986) 167-215; D. Burr, Olivi's Peaceable Kingdom. A reading of the Apocalypse
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 145
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146 SHARON LEFTLEY
the role of St. Francis led in most cases to a strong belief in the
unique role that the Order was to play in the final ages. Hence
obedience to the pope could be undermined by the belief in their
Order as the key organisation to usher in the final climactic age.
The Franciscan commentators mainly relied on the pattern of
seven ages, but in its Joachimist form of two sets of seven ages
before and after Christ. The earlier Franciscans focused on the
patterns of two and the opening of the seven seals, especially the
sixth and seventh. Later, more radical elements took up the third
status and the idea of renovatio mundi. Some writers were able to use
elements of the Trinitarian patterns of Joachim while avoiding the
idea of a third status or an eternal evangel. St. Bonaventure, for
example, in his Collationes in Hexaemeron , used a pattern of four
tempora rather than three status. Each tempora however was divided
into three sub -tempora, each of which was characterised by one
figure of the Trinity.26
The Dominican approach to the Apocalypse was rather more
cautious. Aquinas's criticisms of Joachim's ideas and methods seem
to have had a lingering effect on the attitude of the Order towards
apocalyptic speculation in general.27 The Order also had other
priorities, concentrating on pastoral duties and combating heresy.
Savonarola was an obvious exception and the ambivalent attitude of
the Order towards him (wary, but protective of his memory and
status as a prophet) is perhaps indicative of their attitude to
prophecy and eschatology generally.28 Nevertheless, eschatological
tension was not absent from the Dominican milieu; it was still a
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 147
29Reeves, "The originality and influence of Joachim of Fiore," 161-74; and Y.-
D. Glinas, "L'Influence de prophtisme joachimite dans l'Ordre dominicain au
XVime sicle," in II Profetismo Gioachimita 185-7, 191.
30R. Lerner, "Poverty, preaching and eschatology in the Revelation
Commentaries of 'Hugh of St. Cher,"' in K. Walsh and D. Wood (eds), The Bible in
the Medieval World: Essays in Memory of Beryl Smalley (Oxford, 1985) 157-89.
31C. A. Patrides and J. Wittreich, The Apocalypse in English Renaissance Thought
and Literature (Manchester, 1984) 371-7 gives a list of commentaries which 'strives
for completeness' for the Renaissance. See also the annotated bibliography of
Apocalypse commentaries to 1700 in R. Tresley, Renaissance Commentaries on the Book
of Revelation and their Influence on Spenser's Fairie Queen and D'Aubigne's Les
Tragiques (diss. , Chicago 1980) 113-239.
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148 SHARON LEFTLEY
Whereas the first five visions covered all seven ages of the
Church, the sixth and seventh visions do not. The sixth
only dealt with the sixth age, and the seventh, while it did
not deal with the seventh age explicitly, did so implicitly.
The sixth age is described in some way by all the visions
because it is the age of perfection of the Church.32
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 149
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150 SHARON LEFTLEY
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 1 5 1
45McGinn, The Calabrian Abbot , 153; Lewis, Peter John Olivi , 177.
^Burr, Olivs Peaceable Kingdom , 76-7. Olivi viewed the seventh age as the time
for the earthly and material fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies such as Isaiah
2:4: Lewis, Peter John Olivi , 236-7.
47Vat. Lat. 5567, 350v, 356r-v, 357v, 367r-v; City of God, XX: 12; XXI: 9-10
(ed.) Bettenson, 920, 983-5.
48Vat. Lat. 5567, 349r.
49Vat. Lat. 5567, 22v-23r, 350r-352v. Burr, "Mendicant readings of the
Apocalypse," 101. Whereas Augustine described this period of the binding of the
devil as 'from the first coming of Christ to the end of the world', Galatino applies it
to the first six ages, up to the death of the antichrist, thereby not even applying it
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152 SHARON LEFTLEY
to the seventh age at all: City of Gody XX: 8 (ed.) Bettenson, 911. That Galatino had
Joachim's interpretation in mind while he was commenting on this passage is
nevertheless suggested by his citation of Remigius of Auxerre as an authority for the
existence of an age after the antichrist: Vat. Lat. 5567, 349v. Galatino made no
mention of Remigius elsewhere and Joachim cites him for the same purpose on the
same issue: Expositio in Apocalypsim, (Venice, 1527) 210ra. A comparison of the two
passages shows a very close correlation. That Galatino derived his comment from
Joachim, rather than directly from Remigius is suggested by the fact that it comes in
fact from the commentary of Haimo which Joachim knew as that of 'beatus
Remigius', whereas Galatino knew it as a work of Haimo.
en
JUVat. Lat. 5567, 35 iv. Koquetaillade s 1UUU years actually appnea to tne seventn
age, after antichrist.
51Vat. Lat. 5567, 352r.
5201ivi applied the passage to three different periods: Christ's death and
resurrection; the Church after Constantine; and the period after antichrist: Burr,
Olivi' s Peaceable Kingdom , 167-72; Lewis, Peter John Olivi , 232-4.
5 R. Lerner, "Millnarisme littral et vocation des juifs chez Jean de
Roquetaillade," Mlanges de Vcole Franaise de Rome. Moyen Age 102 (1990) 311-12;
D. Burr, 'Olivi's apocalyptic timetable,' Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies
11 (1981): 255-9; Lewis, Peter John Olivi , 232-5.
54Vat. Lat. 5567, 351v; Vat. Lat. 5579, llr-v.
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 153
the image of a day passing from dawn to night. The same reasons are
used by Olivi to describe the same period, including the unfolding of
the stages of a day.55
In increasing the length of the third status, Galatino was not
aiming to increase the length of the seventh age by a large amount.
His concern was to have a lengthy sixth age, and in that lies a
substantial difference from other interpretations of Apoc. 20. It is
in his interpretations of the fifth and sixth ages, which were based
very closely on his reading of the Apocalypse, that we find Galatino
departing not only from the traditional approach, but also from
Joachim.
The mendicant interpretation of the fifth age derived from the
Apocalypse was summarised thus by Burr:56
The fifth period is less clearly delineated, partly because the
tradition itself offered varying possibilities. Interpretations of
the fifth seal are varied and often vague. There is substantially
less hesitation about the fifth trumpet, though. Most of the
commentators identify it with the precursors of the antichrist,
sent to pave the way for him. Many commentators are also
enamoured with Richard of St Victor's suggestion that the fifth
period is a grand finale of sorts. Having introduced his
temptations singly in the first four periods, the devil now
deploys them all at once.
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154 SHARON LEFTLEY
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 1 5 5
The only precedents for giving the sixth age such a positive
reading are found in St. Bonaventure, Joachim, and Olivi, though to
differing degrees.65 Joachim's concept of the sixth age remained
similar to that of the mainstream tradition, but was affected by his
concept of the third status. The main feature of his sixth age was
the double persecution of the sixth and seventh heads (Apoc. 12:3).
Joachim identified these two heads as the two final persecutions
which would both occur in the sixth age, leaving the seventh as a
time of peace. The sixth would be a Moslem army and the seventh
the great antichrist.66 Galatino's interpretation was comparable in
that he gave a similar identification to the heads and placed both in
the sixth age, although in interpreting the other five heads he
seems to have been more influenced by Olivi.67 He also seems to
have followed Joachim in associating the persecution of the Jews in
the books of Judith and Esther with the opening of the sixth seal
and the beginning of the sixth age of the Church. Galatino,
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156 SHARON LEFTLEY
68Daniel, "Joachini of Fiore," 81; McGinn, The Calabrian Abboty 153; M. Reeves
and B. Hirsch-Reich, The Figurae of Joachim of Fiore (Oxford, 1972) 12, 98, 134, 302;
and Burr, "Olivi's Apocalyptic timetable," 240-1.
69McGinn, The Calabrian Abbot , 146, 153-4, 159, 185; Reeves and Hirsch-Reich,
Figurae , 12, 98, 135-7,254.
70Burr, Olivs Peaceable Kingdom , 109; Lewis, Peter John Olivi , 170.
Lewis, Peter John Olivi , 132.
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 157
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158 SHARON LEFTLEY
77Burr, "Franciscan exegesis," 60; McGinn, The Calabrian Abbot , 152; Burr,
"Mendicant readings of the Apocalypse," 96.
78A similar difference is found in the interpretation of the angel with the open
book of Apoc. 10:1-2. Joachim interprets the angel as the viri spirituales ; Olivi as St.
Francis; and Galatino as the angelic pope and his disciples: McGinn, The Calabrian
Abbot , 146; Burr, "Franciscan exegesis," 60.
79D. Burr, "Olivi, Apocalyptic Expectation and visionary experience," Traditio
41 (1985) 281, n. 32.
80For Olivi on the role of the Franciscans, see Burr, Olivi' s Peaceable Kingdom ,
103-8, 119-24, 189-93; and D. Burr, "Bonaventure, Olivi and Franciscan exegesis,"
Collectanea Franciscana 53 (1983): 29-38.
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 1 59
^Respectively Vat. Lat. 5579; Vat. Lat. 5568-9; and Vat. Lat. 5576.
82 As Rusconi has noted, Galatino's use of the Liber de Concordia , the Expositio
and the commentaries on Jeremiah and Isaiah probably reflect his access to the
Venetian printed editions of 1516-19: Rusconi, "An angelic pope," 174; and Rusconi,
"Circolazione," 388-90. On at least two occasions he cited the Liber de Concordia and
the Expositio at the same time on the same issue, perhaps because he had only the
edition of the Liber de Concordia with its extract from the Expositio : Vat. Lat. 5579,
llr-v; Vat. Lat. 5567, 119v.
83Vat. Lat. 5579, 30v; Daniel ed, Liber de Concordia , 402.
84Vat. Lat. 5579, llr-v.
85It is directly cited in Vat. Lat. 5579, llr-v; Vat. Lat. 5576, 184r; Vat. Lat.
5567, 119v, 174v, 223v.
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160 SHARON LEFTLEY
The spurious works are cited more often and were accepted as
genuine without question. Galatino used the Super Esaiam to show
that Joachim had prophesied the two orders which were identified
with the Minorites and Preachers. Although he quoted the
Joachimist view of them as coming in the forty-first generation
from Christ, he placed them in the fifth, not sixth age.86 He also
used it to support his contention that the angelic pope would come
from Otranto and would fulfil the peaceful hopes of Is. 11 r.87 From
the Super Hieremiam , he drew a number of comments about the
destitution of the Church: its wickedness and sin, its affliction by
the Saracens, and the scourges that ecclesiastics will suffer.88
The Liber de Flore was used in the main for information about
the successors of the angelic pope.89 This was an important text in
the development of the idea of the angelic pope (especially its
politicization). In attributing this early fourteenth-century work to
Joachim, Galatino gave increased credibility and status to his vision
of a sixth age ruled by angelic popes. It was never printed and the
only surviving manuscripts in Rome are seventeenth-century
copies.90 Thus, it may well be that Galatino derived his knowledge of
it from other writers who had also made use of this work, such as
Roquetaillade and Telesphoro of Cosenza.91 For example, he
discussed the Liber de Flore mainly in conjunction with Rabbanus,
his other source of information about the successors to the angelic
pope, which was also contained in the 1516 edition of the Libellus of
Telesphoro.
The pseudo-Joachimist work which he used most was the
commentary on the Oraculum Cyrillic This was supposedly a
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 161
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 163
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 165
out in Rome itself. The Chapter General of 1506 had met at the
monastery of Ara Coeli, although before Galatino's arrival. The
meetings of 1517 were held at St. Peter's under a commission of
cardinals including Lorenzo Pucci to whom Galatino was probably
already chaplain.116 Hence Galatino was a close witness to these
events. The impact on him is borne out by a passage in De Ecclesia
Destitua where he describes, as an eye witness, Bernardino of
Chieri, the last Minister General of the whole order, giving up his
office reluctantly and in tears. Galatino explicitly linked the division
to the coming persecution of the carnal Church that would mark the
imminent end of the fifth age.117 In this context his prophecies of a
single unified and purified order arising from the ashes of the Friars
Minor become the product not just of an intellectual tradition, but
of real circumstances, even if his hopes themselves were unrealistic.
In practice the divisions in the Friars Minor continued and in 1528
there was a further division as those groups demanding literal
observance of the rule broke away.
One may also posit an underlying desire to defend the
mendicants in general from the attacks made by the bishops at the
Lateran Council which began shortly after Galatino arrived in
Rome.118 These attacks focused on the privileges of the mendicants
which exempted them from the jurisdiction of the bishops and
included attacks on the lifestyle of the regulars. Ably defended by
Egidio da Viterbo and Tommaso de Vio (the generals of the
Augustinians and Dominicans respectively), the mendicants
emerged relatively unscathed from the council, but Galatino's
criticisms of the secular clergy of his own time, including bishops,
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166 SHARON LEFTLEY
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BEYOND JOACHIM OF FIORE 167
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